Dell Rugged Laptops Get NVIDIA RTX™ GPU Boost

As more engineers in the manufacturing and construction space leave their desks and take their work to challenging job sites, they have identified the need for a more robust computing solution than a standard-issue laptop. But rugged laptops built for these harsh environments are usually equipped with less powerful CPUs and in many cases, either don’t have a discrete GPU or rely on consumer-grade cards. 

That’s changing, though, thanks to Dell Technologies’ line of semi-rugged laptops that support NVIDIA’s AI platform and GPUs. In October, 2024, the company announced the Dell Pro Rugged 14, which boasts support for the NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU as well as 14th-gen Intel CPUs.

Dell previously offered support for the NVIDIA T500 Laptop GPU in its rugged Latitude 5430. With RTX 500 support, the new Dell Pro Rugged 14 (a rebrand from the Latitude labeling) offers a GPU with AI acceleration and ray tracing support, more cores, and faster processing speeds.

The RTX 500, announced earlier this year, was designed with artificial intelligence and hybrid work environments in mind. According to NVIDIA, the NVIDIA RTX GPU provides up to 10x the graphics performance for 3D rendering compared to a CPU-only configuration. The RTX 500 also offers up to 2x the ray tracing performance and 2x the throughput of previous-gen GPUs. It also comes equipped with 4GB of GPU memory. The NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada laptop GPU also provides dedicated AI processing Tensor cores that can accelerate the local processing of rapidly emerging AI features in professional software applications.

While Dell does offer a fully-rugged device with the Dell Pro Rugged 13, it does not support a discrete GPU. According to David Plourde, Strategic Alliances, Rugged Portfolio at Dell Technologies, the rebranded rugged line will be refreshed on a two-year cycle moving forward.

“I believe the demand for better graphics is driven by the architecture, engineering, and construction market's need for enhanced functionality,” Plourde says. “A site manager might need to access drawings or schematics on the go. Similarly, on a shop floor, an engineer may need to transition from a desktop role to a manufacturing environment with harsh conditions. Engineers require tools and applications that demand more power than a standard rugged PC.”

In addition to the upgraded CPU and GPU, the device (which is part of the AI PC line at Dell) also sports an NPU, faster memory, and a removable hard drive. There are also dual hot-swappable batteries to support all day field use, and support for wireless 5G communications and GPS. 

The computer also has a very bright, glove touch enabled 1100-nit screen which is ideal for outdoor use under any condition. To meet the MIL-STD-810H testing criteria, it is drop-tested from 3-feet 26 times, operational temperature tested from -20℉ to 145℉, and has an ingress protection rating of IP-53. 

The Dell Pro Rugged 14 also benefits from Dell support services. “One of the biggest advantages of our rugged products versus our competitors’ products, is that we offer the same level of service to our customers that they are accustomed to with any of our client devices,” Plourde says. “We can come on site and provide next-business-day service while other companies make you ship the computer in for service.  We also offer the same management tools our customers have become accustomed to when managing their other Dell client systems.”

You can learn more about the Dell Pro Rugged 14 here.

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